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Spaghetti Sundae

Edinburgh I love you! We had an absolutely jam packed day today and did the most steps we’ve done our entire trip. To top it off, we’ve been gifted with the most beautiful Scottish weather, it was around 18C and sunny all day today! …It’s a long one today folks.

We started off the morning with a hike up to Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood park. This 250m tall hill is actually an extinct volcano, and the other two large hills in the city (Castle Rock and Calton Hill) were also formed from volcanic activity. 

Arthur’s Seat from below

View from the top of Arthur’s Seat

The Arthur’s Seat hike was stunning, especially as the Scotch Broom was in full bloom, painting the green hills with strokes of vibrant yellow. 

Colours of the hilltop

It’s so interesting for me to be able to appreciate the Scotch Broom in Scotland as a beautiful plant in it’s natural ecosystem, rather than as a highly invasive species to be removed (as it’s seen in Victoria).

Scotch Broom up close

We next wandered up from Holyrood park to the Grassmarket area where we went to Mary’s Milk Bar. This gem of an ice cream parlour has the creamiest, most delicious ice cream! 

Mary’s Milk Bar

If you ever visit, you absolutely must try their “spaghetti sundae”. You get a scoop of your choice of ice cream (I got mango-mint) and this is topped with milk ice cream “spaghetti”, cherry “meatballs”, toasted breadcrumbs, a little pepper, and shaved white chocolate…heaven in your mouth.

Spaghetti Sundae

Next we wandered through Edinburgh Castle park grounds and accidentally came upon the first ever Edinburgh World Fair Trade Day Ceilidh in the Gardens. For those unaware of Scottish terminology (like me), a Ceilidh (said key-lee) is a traditional Scottish gathering featuring music, food, and dance!

I fell absolutely in love with one band which played a mix of pop and traditional Scottish songs, but in a groovy rock way with bagpipes and saxophones! They were called Gleadhraich (which I have no idea how to pronounce) but perhaps you can hear their exquisite vibe on this video.

Finally, after spending probably an hour listening to music, we walked up to Calton Hill. At the top of this hill is the National Scottish Monument, which is modelled after the Parthenon in Athens and was built for the Scottish soldiers who lost their lives in the Napoleonic Wars. A fun fact about this monument is that it’s actually half-finished! The city ran out of funds to complete it. 

Scottish National Monument (circa 1826) at the top of Calton Hill

 Overall, so far I love Edinburgh. Just like London, there is such a mix of languages everywhere, but the one big difference I’ve noticed is that the crowd in Edinburgh seems much younger. Apparently it’s a good city for partiers (which we’re not), but it’s also good for those of us who like to chill in the evening, sipping hot chocolate, and looking out the window. 

Sunset view from our hostel



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Comments

  1. JPMay 10, 2025 at 11:52 PM

    Great blog! So many interesting information. The city is just wonderful full of life with lots of history.
    I hope to visit it one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlaMay 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM

      Thanks mama! I think you would love it :)

      Delete

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